I usually attend movies at the local art house ($8), suburban art house wannabe ($8), or the end-of-run double feature movie theater ($5), so it was a bit of a surprise to go to the local multiplex and find that the price for a 3D movie is $13.50, and the price for a regular movie is $10. So for more than the price of a monthly Netflix streaming subscription, customers can see one Hollywood blockbuster movie. This theater chain has the worst (and most expensive) concessions, so if customers want to have some stale popcorn and enough soda to accelerate their Type II Diabetes, a night watching a re-issue of a 90’s Disney Movie (Beauty and the Beast) with the wife and two kids costs more than the monthly bill for a good broadband Internet connection plus a Netflix subscription.
How is Hollywood going to address the disparity between the cost of their content delivered (legally) over the Internet versus the cost of going to a movie theater to watch it? By blaming it all on piracy, trying to force through SOPA, and cutting off donations to the Obama campaign when they don’t fall in line.